To obey or not to obey?

At the legendary Imola circuit in 1982, Ferrari were gifted victory. A boycott of the San Marino Grand Prix by the majority of the FOCA aligned teams - including McLaren, Lotus, Williams and Brabham - meant that just 14 cars would take the start, and the dominant Renaults both suffered mechanical problems.

With the race in the bag, Ferrari ordered its drivers, Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi, to slow down and preserve their cars; Villeneuve believed this also implied an instruction to not overtake. When Pironi did so on the final lap, taking victory as a result, Villeneuve was so incensed that he vowed to never speak to his teammate again. Two weeks later, at Zolder, he suffered a fatal accident whilst trying to better Pironi's qualifying time.

21 years later, a similar situation unfolded at Sepang. Red Bull issued the 'Multi 21' instruction to Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, ordering their drivers to go into car preservation mode and bring the cars home in their current order - car 2 ahead of car 1, hence '21'. Had the situation been reversed, the order would have been 'Multi 12'.

Vettel had other ideas, however. On a day when Fernando Alonso ended his race in the gravel, the reigning champion simply couldn't resist the temptation to  ignore his team's wishes and seize the opportunity before him to win. In doing so, Vettel revealed a steely, ruthless determination to succeed at any cost that is reminiscent of his compatriot Michael Schumacher before him.

Some would argue it's exactly that which makes him one of the greatest drivers in the sport and sets him apart from the likes of Webber, who had turned down his engine in response to the team's instruction and thus left himself completely exposed to attack. The fact remains however that, just like Pironi did to Villeneuve all those years ago, Vettel stabbed his visibly enraged teammate in the back.

Relations have always been frosty between the Red Bull teammates since their infamous clash at Istanbul back in 2010. But this newly opened divide could come to cost the team one or both titles this season if not swiftly healed. The trouble is that Vettel, as Malaysia proved, is now a law unto himself. Team principal Christian Horner didn't even attempt instruct Vettel to fall back behind Webber after the pass was made, as if he felt powerless to overrule his driver's decision.

Similarly, a disillusioned Webber can no longer be counted upon to obey team instructions, or indeed to support his teammate's title bid. That's not a problem Alonso is going to face at Ferrari, as the Scuderia operate a transparent policy of having a clear number one driver and a subservient teammate, which, providing the latter is happy to play second fiddle, works well.

Red Bull, on the other hand, maintain a pretence of driver equality, whilst discreetly favouring Vettel, who is a product of Helmut Marko's Red Bull Junior Team and has enjoyed the team's backing and support since the very early days of his career. Marko groomed Vettel to become world champion, and during the past three years Red Bull have reaped the rewards.

It should come as little surprise that, with so much nurturing and protection throughout his career, Vettel feels entitled to be the team's number one. That's clearly not compatible with the philosophy of driver equality that Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz claims to subscribe to, and it's Marko's clandestine favouritism towards Vettel that is at the root of his decision to ignore 'Multi 21' and Webber's subsequent frustration.

Mateschitz needs to have a long, hard think about the way his team is run. How will Horner re-gain his authority, which has been so badly undermined by the Marko-Vettel alliance? Horner needs to re-establish himself as the one in charge, and it could be argued that Vettel should have been dealt some kind of punishment to prevent a similar situation recurring later in the year.

Where does all of this leave Webber? It should be noted that, at the point at which Vettel took the lead around the outside at turn 4, the Aussie could have followed the racing line and forced his teammate off the road, sending a firm signal to Vettel. The fact he chose not to do so, and failed to give chase thereafter, unwittingly affirmed his number two status within the team.

At 36, Webber is the elder statesmen of the grid, and if retirement wasn't on his mind before, it must surely be now. Webber is only in it to win it; that's why he turned down an offer last year to join Ferrari, where he would have had to give best to Alonso. If Red Bull is Vettel's team, which events last weekend suggest it very much is, what chance does Webber have of winning whilst remaining at Milton Keynes?

Outside of Red Bull, Webber's options as far as competitive seats are concerned appear limited. Ferrari would probably still have him, and you could argue that a season of being number two to Alonso is far from a bad way to round off one's F1 career. Lotus may be able to find space for him in their line-up, with Kimi Raikkonen having given scant indication of whether he wishes to continue into 2014, but how long their strong form will continue is uncertain.

Webber may therefore calculate that he is best off remaining at Red Bull - if nothing else, he can be fairly certain of having a competitive car. But, if the team cannot issue orders (at least with any optimism that they will be followed) while Vettel and Webber both remain on board, it follows that one - almost certainly the latter - will have to give way. If this is the case, it may well be that Webber feels the time is right to hang up his helmet.

As for Vettel, he may be seven crucial points further up on Alonso and the rest of his adversaries than he may have been, but at the expense of his honour. Just as the legacies of Ayrton Senna and Schumacher will always be tainted because of the choices they made in the relentless pursuit of victory, Vettel runs the risk of having the same asterisk placed by his name.

There's no denying Vettel is a stickler for statistics, but what he seemingly fails to realise is how you win is just as important as whether you do so. His obvious lack of respect for Webber, whom he dismissed as "too slow" during the race, is a far cry from the likes of Peter Collins and Stirling Moss, who sacrificed their chances of winning titles in the name of sportsmanship and are revered all the more for it.

Perhaps the hardest thing of all to swallow was the false 'apology' that followed. In many ways, it would have been better to see Vettel unapologetic for his actions, much like Schumacher was following some of his more controversial stunts. Instead, it appears the sport's youngest ever champion is more concerned about maintaining his easy-going, good-humoured façade than being honest to the public.

Vettel is unquestionably one of the most talented drivers the sport has seen in recent years, and perhaps it's his insatiable desire to win that makes him so. I can't help but feel however that, had Alonso or Lewis Hamilton been in a similar situation, they would have taken the honourable option - both appear to have considerable respect, even affection, for their respective teammates.

Vettel on the other hand has chosen, at least for now, just like Senna and Schumacher before him, the 'win at all costs' path. He may well enjoy more success because of it, but ironically at the expense of the likeable persona he seems so intent on preserving.

Malaysian Grand Prix 2013 - Report

Sebastian Vettel took his first win of the season at the Malaysian Grand Prix in highly controversial style. After Red Bull had all but secured a one-two finish after the final pit-stops, Vettel disobeyed the team's instruction to hold position and made his way past a furious Mark Webber in an incredible on-track dice. Completing the podium was Lewis Hamilton, who benefited from team orders to keep his ostensibly faster Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg at bay.

In a rain-affected qualifying session, Vettel secured pole position once again on Saturday ahead of the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, who was out-qualified by his teammate for the second time in as many races. Hamilton would line up fourth in another promising qualifying session for Mercedes, with Webber and Rosberg forming the third row of the grid.

A rain shower prior to the race ensured the entire field would start the race on intermediate tyres. As the race got underway, Vettel made a good start to lead the field into the first sequence of bends with Alonso making the better getaway of the Ferrari duo to slot into second place.

The Spaniard however lightly tapped the rear of the leading Red Bull under braking for turn 2, causing severe damage to his front wing which would see sparks fly for the remainder of the lap as the endplate dragged along the tarmac. Despite this, Ferrari advised Alonso to stay out, not wanting to pay further penalty for having to pit so soon again afterwards as the track dried.

The result of this decision was that the front wing became lodged under Alonso's car just as he entered the braking zone for the first corner of the second lap, resulting in the Ferrari sailing into the gravel trap and subsequently early retirement.

That left Vettel leading Webber, who made a good start from fifth, Hamilton, Jenson Button's McLaren (from seventh on the grid), the sole remaining Prancing Horse of Massa and Rosberg. By the end of the third lap, the German had made his way ahead of Massa and Button to move into fourth behind teammate Hamilton.

The track quickly began to dry out, causing a flurry of pit-stops as the remaining 21 drivers ditched their intermediate tyres largely in favour of the softer medium compound slicks. The one notable exception however was Webber, who assumed the lead of the race after his stop for hard tyres on lap 6. Vettel, along with Massa, had opted to come in one lap sooner, but lost ground to his teammate with a poor out-lap on a still slightly damp track.

Once everyone had made the switch to slicks, the order was Webber from Vettel, Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, an impressive Nico Hulkenberg in his first proper outing for his new Sauber team, and Massa. Running on the option tyre allowed Vettel to close in on Webber somewhat during the second stint, although at this stage of the race the Mercedes cars had the pace to match the Red Bulls and a four-way lead battle seemed in prospect.

With around six seconds separating the leading quartet, race leader Webber was the first to pit for a second time, doing so on lap 19 for a set of options. This allowed him to maintain the lead over Vettel, who pitted three laps later for primes, and the Mercedes pair with the order of the top four unchanged. Further behind, Button held onto fifth position, with Hulkenberg dropping behind Massa as well as Lotus driver Romain Grosjean.

Most teams seemed powerless to eke out their stint lengths to anything more than ten to twelve laps, meaning  that by lap 32 the Red Bulls and Mercedes men would be back into the pits, all four going for primes for their fourth stints. Button briefly took the lead owing to his slightly later stop, being passed by Webber at the start of lap 35. Stopping two laps sooner than Vettel allowed Hamilton to claw his way up to second place once Button made his stop.

This was short-lived however, as Vettel re-took the position with relative ease at the start of lap 39. Hamilton came in for his fourth and final stop on lap 41, with Vettel and Rosberg following suit a lap later, with the order among the trio unchanged. The fact that Webber's final stop came one lap later however brought the reigning champion right with his teammate.

Though team orders had been administered to ensure a one-two finish with the Mercedes cars no longer a threat, Vettel was in no mood to obey them. A furious scrap for the lead ensued, with the Red Bull pair coming perilously close to colliding on more than one occasion. The battle was finally settled in Vettel's favour with an audacious move around the outside of turn 4 on lap 46, and Webber was powerless to keep pace with his teammate thereafter.

The net result was a 27th career victory for Vettel - drawing him level with the legendary Sir Jackie Stewart - and an irate Webber whose frustration was clearly visible on the podium; he thought he had been guaranteed the win by the team following his final pit-stop and had turned down his engine accordingly. Vettel later issued an apology to his teammate, but the damage had undoubtedly been done.

Mercedes also employed team orders to safeguard third and fourth positions, with the fuel-saving Hamilton gallantly acknowledging on the podium that Rosberg was the faster and thus deserving of the final podium position in his place. Still, it was an excellent day for a team that hadn't enjoyed a podium finish since last year's European Grand Prix.

Fifth position went the way of Massa, benefiting from a botched pit-stop for Button that saw the 2009 champion depart his pit-box without his front-right wheel properly attached. With any chance of a points finish up in smoke, McLaren opted to retire the car a couple of laps from home.

Sixth place went to Grosjean, recovering from a lacklustre qualifying that saw him line up in 11th place; the Lotus driver had been running fifth on a three-stop strategy until lap 53, at which point he was overhauled by the four-stopping Massa.

It was a frustrating weekend for Australian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen in the second Lotus, who was dropped from seventh to tenth on the grid for impeding Rosberg during qualifying. The Finn made a poor start, and despite making some early progress lost time behind the slower cars of Sergio Perez and Hulkenberg. Seventh wasn't a bad return considering, with the 'Hulk' taking eighth for Sauber and Perez ninth in another difficult day for McLaren.

The final point went to Jean-Eric Vergne for Toro Rosso, who recovered from a pit-lane collision with countryman Charles Pic to finish tenth ahead of rookie drivers Valtteri Bottas (Williams) and Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber). Jules Bianchi once again led home the tail-end pack for Marussia from a recovering Pic, the second Caterham of Giedo van der Garde and Max Chilton.

It was a disastrous day for Force India - Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil were both forced to retire as wheel-nut problems during excruciatingly long pit-stops caused fatal overheating for both cars. Pastor Maldonado had another dismal race, retiring from an uncompetitive position due to a KERS issue after earlier losing his front wing in an off-track excursion, while Daniel Ricciardo retired due to exhaust problems for a second race in succession.

2013 Australian Grand Prix - Report

Kimi Raikkonen got his 2013 season to the best possible start with a convincing victory at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit. Executing a two-stop strategy to perfection, the Finn resisted the pressure of a chasing Fernando Alonso, who made three pit stops, and pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel to take the win.

Heavy rain showers on Saturday afternoon delayed the majority of qualifying until Sunday morning, but Red Bull were the undoubted pacesetters in the cool, dry conditions. Vettel and Mark Webber secured the front row between them, with Lewis Hamilton showing impressive pace for Mercedes with third on the grid.

Felipe Massa and Alonso qualified fourth and fifth for Ferrari, with the second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg rounding out the top half-dozen and the Lotus drivers Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean occupying the fourth row. Jenson Button could do no better than tenth as McLaren struggled for pace, Sergio Perez qualifying a lowly 15^th in his debut for the Woking team.

As the lights went out to mark the start of the season, Vettel made a clean getaway from pole whilst Webber made his customary poor start. This allowed a fast-starting Massa to sweep into second, with Alonso moving ahead of Hamilton to take third at turn three. Raikkonen soon demoted Hamilton to fifth place in a bold overtaking move towards the end of the second lap.

Vettel was unable to get away at the head of the pack, with the reigning champion at the head of a leading quartet with the Ferrari duo and Raikkonen snapping at his heels. It became clear however that the super-soft tyres with which the majority of the field had started the race were graining rapidly; the first flurry of pit-stops arrived before the lap counter had hit double figures.

Webber, who was down to seventh after his bad start, was the first to pit on lap five for the medium compound tyre, with race leader Vettel following suit two laps later. This handed the lead to Massa, who duly pitted at the end of the lap, with Alonso doing likewise on lap nine. The Mercedes drivers opted to stay out a few laps longer, allowing Hamilton to lead the race until his stop at the end of lap 13.

Nico Rosberg made his first stop a lap later having led a lap, handing the lead to Force India returnee Adrian Sutil, who was one of a handful of drivers to begin the race on medium tyres. The German ably led the race until his stop at the end of lap 21, keeping Vettel, Massa and Alonso at bay until the Spaniard dived into the pits on lap 20 in order to try and jump his rivals.

The tactic worked, and Alonso had moved ahead of Vettel after the latter made his stop at the same time as Sutil. Massa meanwhile re-gained the lead, but Ferrari’s decision to keep him out a further two laps cost him any chance of leapfrogging Vettel, who wasted little time in dispatching Sutil after the pit-stops.

Raikkonen was now in the lead of the race, and the Lotus was clearly able to better preserve the medium tyres than the Red Bull or Ferrari. The Finn made his second stop on lap 34, raising the possibility that he would be able to pull off a two-stop strategy where his rivals would have to make three.

Alonso seized the advantage after Raikkonen’s stop, having made his way past Hamilton on lap 31 in a fantastic wheel-to-wheel battle. The Ferrari driver made his final stop of the race on lap 39, allowing Sutil to re-take the lead. Raikkonen overtook the Force India driver on lap 43, and once Alonso had done likewise it was a straight battle to the finish.

The gap stood at just over five seconds, but despite the advantage of fresher tyres Alonso was unable to close his rival down, not helped by an incident that saw him nearly run into the lapped Caterham of Charles Pic. That meant Alonso was forced to settle for second as Raikkonen took the chequered flag for the 20^th time in his career, drawing level with compatriot Mika Hakkinen in the all-time winners list.

Vettel could do no more than third, with the Red Bull’s race pace clearly lacking in comparison to its eye-catching one lap speed. Massa meanwhile lost time to the podium finishers stuck behind Sutil, and by the time of his final stop the Brazilian was too far behind to challenge Vettel and had to be content with fourth.

Sutil was on course for a fifth place finish after his last stop, but he was forced to use the fragile super-soft tyre for his final stint. This allowed Hamilton to pass his former F3 teammate at turn eight on lap 51, the Mercedes driver going on to complete the top five in a solid maiden race for the Brackley team.

Excessive tyre wear forced the Brit to change from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy, effectively costing Hamilton any chance of improving upon fifth. Rosberg may well have taken sixth behind his teammate if not for an electrical failure that ended his race at half-distance.

Webber, who lost time with an early KERS problem as well as being stuck behind an uncompetitive Button following his early first stop, cleared Sutil for sixth place several corners after Hamilton, but the 30-year-old had enough of a cushion over teammate Paul Di Resta to claim seventh place – the Scot’s eighth position rounded out an encouraging afternoon for Force India.

Button had to settle for a subdued ninth place finish in light of McLaren’s teething problems, two places ahead of new teammate Perez. Splitting the silver-and-red cars was Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus, who lacked the pace and tyre preservation of teammate Raikkonen as a result of only acquiring the latest updates to the car once the rain had arrived on Saturday morning.

Jean-Eric Vergne took twelfth place in an unspectacular day for Toro Rosso, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo retiring due to exhaust problems at his home event. Next up were Esteban Gutierrez and Valtteri Bottas, both of whom had fairly uneventful debut races for Sauber and Williams respectively, with their teammates Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado both early casualties – the former failed to start due to fuel system issues, while the latter ended up in the gravel trap due to driver error.

Jules Bianchi had a terrific debut race, comfortably qualifying and finishing the best of the ‘bottom four’ with a 15^th place finish, ahead of compatriot Pic for Caterham and his Marussia teammate Max Chilton. The second Caterham of Giedo van der Garde rounded out the finishers, meaning that all five rookie drivers saw the chequered flag.